MANCHESTER'S big earners are being targeted by Citibank which has opened its first financial centre outside London in the No 1 Deansgate development.

It is out to win a bigger share of the premium banking business generated by the 300,000 affluent households in Manchester and the north west.

Director Sanjeeb Chaudhuri estimates that over six million people in the UK pay between é6 and é12 a month for premium services offered by the High Street banks, while Citibank offers a management fee-free Premium Current Account.

"We offer customers a premium banking service which is not available from the usual High Street banks and believe it's important to make our customers' lives easier by offering them maximum choice and flexibility in how they do their banking," he says.

Meanwhile Coutts & Co, the Queen's bankers, have appointed three new private bankers at their Manchester regional office.

The office now manages over é500m on behalf of clients throughout the Manchester region.